Death of a Bookseller

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What to expect

WOULD YOU KILL FOR A GOOD STORY?
'A confident, sassy, pitch-black debut' CAROLINE KEPNES
'Your new obsession' ERIN KELLY
'Savage, witty and all-consuming' ABIGAIL DEAN
'A dark masterpiece. It will work its way under your skin like a splinter' CATRIONA WARD

*****
Roach - bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic- is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.

That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.

With her cute literary tote bags and sunny smile, she's everyone's favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.

And as curiosity blooms into morbid obsession, Roach becomes determined to be a part of Laura's story - whether Laura wants her in it or not.
*****

'A spectacularly creepy debut ... a tense and disturbing read' GUARDIAN
'Tense, addictive and sticky underfoot' JULIA ARMFIELD
'A sharp and creepy debut thriller' DAILY MAIL
'Utterly unforgettable' CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD
'Delightfully dark' COSMOPOLITAN, Best New Books
'Engrossing, atmospheric and deliciously dark' WILL DEAN
'Uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and you won't take your eyes off the pages' BELFAST TELEGRAPH
'Impossible to put down' ELIZA CLARK

Critics Review

Snickering, devil emoji, this-Alice-Slater-is-too-witty LOL brilliance that will make you smile every time you step into a bookshop. A confident, sassy, pitch-black debut by someone who really knows her way around a bookshop, as well as our death-obsessed culture.
Caroline Kepnes, internationally bestselling author of Netflix sensation, YOU
Fiercely original and deeply disturbing, Death of a Bookseller is a dark masterpiece of grief and obsession - it will work its way under your skin like a splinter and stay there. This is a book you simply can't put down
Catriona Ward, author of The Last House on Needless Street
Alice Slater triumphs in Death of a Bookseller, the story of two frenemies who share an antagonistic obsession with true crime. I love a book that features messy women making very bad choices, and this novel delivers the delicious juice in a surprising, twisty narrative that has you guessing until its unpredictable end.
Chelsea G. Summers, author of A Certain Hunger
Relentlessly, terrifically creepy and deeply compulsive; each point of view was so remarkably strong. This novel blew me away with its incredible characterisation - a one-sitting read for sure
Heather Darwent, author of The Things We Do To Our Friends
For avid readers, thrill-seekers and disgruntled employees alike; Death of a Bookseller is tense, arch and impossible to put down.
Eliza Clark, author of Boy Parts
Beautifully written and dark as Satan's basement, Death of a Bookseller will have you looking over your shoulder long after the last page is turned. Its characters creep into your subconscious and the plot grips the reader like a sticky pub floor. If you like Caroline Kepnes, then welcome to Alice Slater, your new obsession.
Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key
Tense, addictive and sticky underfoot, Death of a Bookseller lends a tangible throb of menace to its seemingly cosy world, overturning every preconception and delving deep into its characters' damaged psyches. I couldn't put it down.
Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea
Add this to your list. A London-set story about true crime, city life, bookshops and friendship. I was sucked in deep. Utterly engrossing, atmospheric and deliciously dark. Hugely compelling.
Will Dean, author of The Last Thing to Burn
I absolutely loved Death of a Bookseller. It felt so fresh and sharp, expertly plotted and also emotionally charged, comic but also pitch-black dark. Roach and Laura are utterly unforgettable. The dread I felt as I turned the pages was not just because of the inevitable collision course I feared these characters were on, but also the threat of the pages running out, of this dazzlingly good read ending.
Catherine Ryan Howard, author of Run Time
A stunning debut; a shrewdly observed insight into life behind the bookshop tills and what happens when two very different booksellers clash. Clever, funny, beautifully written and as dark as a goth's shadow, this is the book I will be recommending to everyone this year.
Jane Casey, Irish Times bestselling author of The Killing Kind
Written with dark wit and verve, this mischievous novel is clever, entertaining, and unsettling, with a gasp-inducing climax that beautifully (and wickedly) intertwines the two unforgettable anti-heroines. Each sentence is a dagger, sharpened to perfection; Slater's deliciously morbid debut will haunt you
Caitlin Brasach, author of A Novel Obsession
I absolutely DEVOURED this! A highly original story about a creep you'll easily let into your heart - but beware: once she's there, she might just blow it up. Fresh, funny, and brilliantly dissecting modern-day book culture, this dream debut is twisted in all the right ways.
Hanna Bervoets, author of We Had To Remove This Post
Craving a squelchy treat of a dark tale? Let yourself be torn between Laura and Roach. Each bigger than life and stickly real, they'll vie for your shadowy heart til the end. Slater's debut is cultish, smart and distinctive. A book that'll linger in your mind long after you've followed the slimy trail to the end...
Kiare Ladner, author of Nightshift
Savage, witty and all-consuming, it's both a love letter to bookselling and a thriller of the most unsettling variety.
Abigail Dean, internationally bestselling author of GIRL A
A dark and delicious treat
C S Green, author of The Whisper House
The best kind of horrible little book! Had me turning the pages late into the night. Brilliant.
Caroline Corcoran, author of Through the Wall
Fresh, funny, chilling and disturbing. The story crackles with killer prose and the characters slay you with their read-through-your-fingers desire and desperation. Searingly good.
Chris Whitaker, award-winning author of We Begin At The End
Fresh, funny, frightening and dark as hell. A stunning debut
Jane Shemilt, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Patient
Slater is adept at keeping the reader glued to the page
Woman's Way
A darkly fun crime debut
i Paper, Best New Books
An original take on the serial killer thriller
Literary Review
Uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and you won't take your eyes off the pages
Belfast Telegraph
A sinister and tense debut that will chill you to the core
Platinum magazine
Dark and atmospheric
Wiltshire Life Magazine
Delightfully dark
Cosmopolitan, Best New Books
You can't help but race through the pages. This will have huge commercial appeal
Glamour, Best New Books
Dark and unsettling, with references to more serial killers than you ever knew existed
The Gloss Magazine
Fans of the psychological thriller get plenty to chew on in an irony-drenched crime novel that sets two women on a potentially lethal collision course while simultaneously asking hard questions about the exploitative nature of true crime writing.
Irish Times
A spectacularly creepy debut ... Both bookselling and society's true crime are filleted mercilessly in a tense and disturbing read
Guardian
The really terrific thing about the book is how the writer conjures that slightly mysterious quality that people working in bookshops always have.
Daily Mail
Original and obsessively good ... as near perfect a thriller on paper as you can get. Alice Slater is a name to watch.
On Magazine
A sharp and creepy debut thriller
Daily Mail
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater is the book that fills me with hope. Inhaling fresh, excellent, quotable, entertaining fiction from a debut novelist is a guaranteed way to breathe a little easier in our world.
Elle, Shelf Life: Caroline Kepnes

User Reviews

Book 4.5
Narration 5.0
5.0
5.0
Loved this! So well written, entertaining and also thought provoking
zara.harrison 30/09/2025
4.0
5.0
caitlinking 02/07/2023

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